There is an increasing amount of noise surrounding “freedom of speech,” “fake news,” and everyone’s right to be heard. This has particular bearing on the gaming community, where the term “freedom of speech” is often used incorrectly.

Twitter revealed three new measures to make its platform safer for users, chief among them preventing abusive account users from making a new account and marking the first potentially effective step in curbing harassment. Twitter announced the news on its blog, and listed the three new measures the company was going to implement soon.

Pokémon Go has grossed over $1 billion in revenue since it was launched on July 6 last year. In less than seven months, Niantic’s mobile game on iOS and Android has become the fastest-growing mobile game in history in revenues.
Read more at https://sensortower.com/blog/pokemon-go-one-billion-revenue

Electronic Arts is teaming up with broadcasters to create a big audience for its esports tournaments. EA announced the FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series competition, which will be the first gaming competition to appear on the ESPN flagship network. Meanwhile, the Madden NFL Championship Series and Madden Bowl will be broadcast on NFL Network and Univision.
Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2017/02/03/ea-partners-with-espn-for-fifa-esports-broadcasts/

The Milwaukee county board passed an ordinance last week that will require Pokémon Go developer Niantic to acquire a permit to use the county’s park locations in the location-based monster-catching simulator. The board enacted this new rule in response to claims that Pokémon Go players caused thousands of dollars in damage to area parks that the county had to pay for itself. This rule won’t affect players because the Milwaukee board is only interested in targeting the company responsible for creating the game.
Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2017/02/06/pokemon-go-developer-niantic-will-now-need-a-permit-to-use-milwaukee-county-parks-in-its-game/

Speculation based on Nintendo’s patents have led to some theories about the Switch. Nintendo’s Switch will include a gyroscope, GPS, touchscreen, compass, motion tracking, image recognition and the ability to project images onto a flat surface or hand, if the company’s patents for the system remain accurate.

Samsung filed a copyright claim on a viral video of a Grand Theft Auto V mod that turns the explosion-prone Galaxy Note 7 into a bomb. The video was initially taken down. The video’s creator, who goes by the handle sdaddy345, said he’d filed a “counter-claim” against Samsung. It appears to have worked, and the video is back up.

Apple sued Mobile Star on Monday for allegedly selling counterfeit power adaptors and charging cables on Amazon. Filing the trademark lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Apple says that Mobile Star is advertising fake accessories as the real thing.

The Washington State Gambling Commission said that Valve had until October 14 to “respond and explain” how Steam is now in compliance with state gambling laws. After missing their initial deadline to respond, Valve has issued a lengthy letter against assertions that skin betting was in any way their doing.